1. Field of Disclosure
This invention relates generally to dicing or shredding food products and, more particularly, to blades for dicing or shredding meat products.
2. Background
Shortcomings in various existing equipment utilized for shredding food products, particularly meat products have been found and there are no commercially available equipment designs available for resolving the problems. When reviewing of the mechanical action of the machine, particularly the engagement of the cutting or shredding blades or knives with the meat product, the shortcomings are revealed. The engagement or cutting action of the commercially available tooling for the machine does not result in a product that appears to have been made by hand. It is desired in the industry for pizza toppings, pulled whole muscle meat products and other meat products. There doesn't appear to be an alternative tooling available in commerce that could be used to produce an item that met the customer design criteria, provide the desired pulling action and consistently produce product.
For some shredding system configurations, one shortcoming is the lack of an adequate block surrounding the shredding blades which sufficiently supports the pieces of food product approaching the shredding apparatus, so as to allow for the efficient engagement of the blades with the pieces of the product. The pieces of the product, for example, may be merely pulled around by the shredding blades rather than shredded, due to a lack of resistance therefrom. Accordingly, there needs to be an advancement to provide an efficient way for the blade to engage the pieces of the product.